Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Why has obesity become such a problem in America?

Why has obesity become such a problem in America and other countries in the early 21st century?

The easy explanation is: we can afford to be obese.

We might think differently about our food choices if each calorie cost us 10 cents. At that rate 2000 calories is $200 per day. You sure might think twice about buying a big Mac and fries for $160, leaving you only $40 for the rest of the day!

Higgins asks a second question:

So why haven’t markets emerged to help pace people to lose weight?

In order to be sucessful at weight loss, people need to have a long-term goal broken down into many short-term goals. The long term goal is to lose the weight and maintain that weight for a long period of time. Too many of us yo-yo.

The key is to develop an easy to use inexpensive technology that measures fat content and not just weight.